Advocate worries overfishing could affect New Jersey ecosystem

A New Jersey marine life advocate says that he is worried that overfishing off the New Jersey coast could have a negative impact on the state’s ecosystem.

Capt. Paul Eidman takes tourists on whale-watching boat tours at the Jersey Shore. Sightings of whales have increased lately due to a large school of bait fish in the area, which whales feed on.

But Eidman says that he is concerned about overfishing in the area. He says that he recently saw a boat named Rappahannock just outside of state waters. He says that the vessel is owned by Omega Protein and can carry up to 2 million menhaden, an important bait fish also known as bunker fish.

“This causes what we feel…is called localized depletion. You're removing this big chunk of fish out of a local ecosystem and then you have to wonder where [the animals] are going to go and feed now,” he says.

Eidman says he's never seen the Virginia-based ship come this far north for a catch. It is perfectly legal - the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission sets annual limits on the amount of menhaden that can be caught. This year the limit was raised by 8 percent.

“If this is repeated you could take too many fish out of the ecosystem to replace and obviously all the apex predators leave and we are left with a void in the ecosystem,” Eidman says.

"Of the tens of millions of fish spotted in the region, the F/V Rappahannock caught just a very small percentage, leaving the vast majority to serve their role in the ecosystem," the company said in a statement.

Eidman says pressure must continue to be put on the ASMFC to recognize menhaden as not only an important economic industry, but also a vital part of the food chain. This will keep the whales and other species from moving on.

Menhaden are used mostly for fish oil dietary supplements, animal food and a variety of other commercial products.